This invention relates to a method for processing salmon roe into food and a device for storing the salmon roe.
When processing the salmon roe into food, generally, the whole of the ovary of a salmon (including a trout), which incorporates numerous salmon eggs (ova) sticky with one another, is taken out by incising the abdomen of the salmon so as to damage salmon ova as little as possible without peeling the ovarian membrane embracing the salmon ova. The salmon roe is thus processed for the reason that the salmon ovary having the ova embraced with the outer membrane appears to be gorgeous and can be sold at high prices. The salmon roe (spawn) taken out of the ovary is immersed in saturated salt water for 15 to 40 minutes, and thereafter, stirred softly. Then, the roe is drained, packed into a packing case and kept in a room at 5.degree. C. to 15.degree. C. for 3 to 6 days as it is so as to have moderate salinity. Thus, the salted salmon roe is obtained and placed on the market so as to be served as ingredients for sandwiches and topping for a canape.
The use of the salmon roe for food calls for the processing of seasoning by immersing the salmon roe in salt water for 15 to 40 minutes. However, the ovaries of the salmons vary in size with the size of the trunk of the salmon, and as well, the amount of salt absorbed into the ovary varies with the size of the ovary. Accordingly, long experience and skill for deciding the time necessary for immersing the ovary in the saturated salt water are required. Furthermore, there is a case where salt cannot uniformly permeate the whole ovary. In this case, the part of the ovary which is sufficiently saturated with salt can be preserved, but the salt excessively absorbed into the ovary causes undesirable overingestion of salt of bad health, resulting in hypertension or other conditions injurious to health. On the other hand, the part of the ovary, which is saturated with insufficient salt, becomes soft, thus losing the commodity value of the salmon roe.
Raw ovary which is completely kept in its original shape covered with the ovarian membrane has been so far considered to be valuable. Therefore, the salmon ovary having the ovarian membrane cut open or divided into pieces is unmarketable. However, in a case where a consumer buys a large salted salmon roe embraced with the unbroken ovarian membrane, his family cannot eat up the salmon roe in volume at a meal and finds it difficult to store and eat up the leftover salmon roe, against the background of the latest tendency toward nuclear families. Therefore, in each family, the salted salmon ovary thus bought is usually dealt with by tearing open the ovarian membrane to take out a lump of salmon roe and cutting the lump into pieces each having a weight of about 50 g. However, when cutting the lump of salmon roe, there is a possibility that ovular fluid (drip) flowing out of the salmon roe may make a kitchen dirty. For these reasons, the consumers tend to hesitate to buy the salmon ovary. Besides, since the ovular fluid filled in the salmon roe tastes good, the expensive salmon roe with reduced ovular fluid loses its value. As a matter of course, the salmon ovary are usually cut appropriately by a food processor so as to permit the salmon roe to be easily eaten and used. Even so, the ovular fluid inevitably leaks out in large quantities from the salmon roe, resulting in lowering its commodity value and yield rate.
Furthermore, although the salmon roe is generally preserved in a packing case, it is apt to be destroyed or injured, forcing out the ovular fluid when being taken out from the packing case, thus rendering the taking-out of the salmon roe difficult.